Real-Time Data Resources from Ocean Observing Systems
Robotic Vehicles
Over the past few years, several new Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) have been developed, adding a new instrument to oceanographers’ arsenal.
- Drifters float in the ocean following ocean current patters, and regularly transmit their position to satellites.
- Profiling drifters float at a fixed depth in the ocean and periodically ascend to the surface, collecting data along their way up, which is then transmit to satellites along with their current position.
- Gliders change their buoyancy to travel up and down in the water column and a pair of fixed wings provides forward momentum so they can move horizontally through the ocean. When they surface, they transmit the data they collected back to control centers, and can be reprogrammed remotely to alter their mission.
- Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) are typically used for short duration experiments where precise navigation and quick travel are required. Data is typically collected by downloading data from the instrument once it is returned to the lab.
All of these platforms can carry a suite of miniaturized physical and bio-optical instruments to remotely measure water properties like temperature, salinity, and the amount of light in the water column. Since these technologies are still relatively new, few observing groups regularly post data to the web.
- Rutgers
Slocum Gliders
An elaborate research portal to archive and display data from Rutgers’ glider fleet. Measured data include temperature, salinity, sound speed occasionally bio-optical transect measurements, as well as maps of glider tracks and depth average currents. While Rutgers has deployed gliders for short-durations all over the world, a multi-year data-set along the “Endurance Line” off New Jersey provides a unique perspective for studying the seasonal cycle along a vertical slice of the ocean. - Scripps Spray
Glider
Archived glider transects from experiments conducted by Scripps. - Global
Surface Drifter Program
Generated maps of drifter locations and calculated ocean currents. - Profiling
Floats
Data access site for ARGO profiling driftrs.
